Interfaces and techniques for cost effective control of light emitting diodes in a vehicle

Abstract

A control circuit may be configured to control light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits. The control circuit may be configured to generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, and output the multicast on an interface, which may comprise a one-wire uni-directional interface. In some examples, a plurality of drivers may receive the multicast, and each of the plurality of drivers may drive different sets of LEDs based on the multicast.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A control circuit configured to simultaneously control a plurality of different light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits, wherein the control circuit is configured to:
 generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used by the plurality of different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs; and 
 output the multicast of pixel intensity values simultaneously to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits on an interface that connects the control circuit to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits, wherein the interface comprises a one-wire uni-directional interface, wherein the interface is a second interface and the control circuit is configured to: 
 receive video data via a first interface in a video frame-by-video frame manner; and 
 output the multicast via the second interface in a row-by-row manner. 
 
     
     
       2. The control circuit of  claim 1 , wherein the multicast comprises different sets of the pixel intensity values that are defined for use by different ones of the plurality of LED drivers. 
     
     
       3. The control circuit of  claim 1 , wherein the multicast comprises first and second sets of the plurality of pixel intensity values that are defined respectfully for a first LED driver associated with external lighting and a second LED driver associated with internal lighting. 
     
     
       4. The control circuit of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of different driver circuits is configured to drive different vehicle lights within a vehicle, and wherein the multicast includes different pixel intensity values for the different vehicle lights within the vehicle. 
     
     
       5. A control circuit configured to simultaneously control a plurality of different light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits, wherein the control circuit is configured to:
 generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used by the plurality of different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs; and 
 output the multicast of pixel intensity values simultaneously to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits on an interface that connects the control circuit to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits, 
 
       wherein the multicast comprises rows of data, wherein each of the rows includes a header, a cyclical redundancy check (CRC) code, and a plurality of the pixel intensity values. 
     
     
       6. The control circuit of  claim 5 , wherein the interface comprises a one-wire uni-directional interface. 
     
     
       7. The control circuit of  claim 6 , wherein the interface is a second interface and the control circuit is configured to:
 receive video data via a first interface in a video frame-by-video frame manner; and 
 output the multicast via the second interface in a row-by-row manner. 
 
     
     
       8. The control circuit of  claim 5 , wherein the multicast comprises rows of data, wherein at least some of the rows of data correspond to rows of LEDs within a matrix of LEDs that are driven by the one or more LED driver circuits. 
     
     
       9. The control circuit of  claim 5 , wherein the multicast comprises rows of data, wherein at least some of the rows of data correspond to clusters of LEDs within a matrix of LEDs that are driven by the one or more LED driver circuits. 
     
     
       10. A control circuit configured to simultaneously control a plurality of different light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits, wherein the control circuit is configured to:
 generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used by the plurality of different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs; and 
 output the multicast of pixel intensity values simultaneously to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits on an interface that connects the control circuit to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits, 
 
       wherein the control circuit is configured to generate the multicast using pixel reordering of either the data in a memory or the data received from a data source. 
     
     
       11. The control circuit of  claim 10 , wherein the multicast comprises a set of the pixel intensity values that is configured to be used simultaneously by two or more of the plurality of LED drivers. 
     
     
       12. A control circuit configured to simultaneously control a plurality of different light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits, wherein the control circuit is configured to:
 generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used by the plurality of different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs; and 
 output the multicast of pixel intensity values simultaneously to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits on an interface that connects the control circuit to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits, 
 
       wherein the multicast comprises a first set of the pixel intensity values that is configured to be used simultaneously by two or more of the plurality of LED drivers and a plurality of second sets of the pixel intensity values that are defined for use by different ones of the plurality of LED drivers. 
     
     
       13. The control circuit of  claim 12 , further comprising a differential transmitter configured to receive the multicast via the interface and transmit the multicast as a differential signal. 
     
     
       14. A light emitting diode (LED) driver circuit configured to drive a plurality of LEDs, wherein the LED driver circuit is configured to:
 receive a multicast of pixel intensity values via an interface, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used the LED driver circuit to drive the plurality of LEDs and by one or more different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs, and 
 drive the plurality of LEDs based on at least some of the luminance values in the multicast, wherein the LED driver circuit includes a plurality of LED drivers, wherein two or more of the plurality of LED drivers are configured to drive different sets of LEDs using a same portion of the multicast. 
 
     
     
       15. The LED driver circuit of  claim 14 , wherein the interface comprises a one-wire unidirectional interface. 
     
     
       16. The LED driver circuit of  claim 14 , wherein the LED driver circuit includes a plurality of LED drivers, wherein two or more of the plurality of LED drivers are configured to drive different drive sets of LEDs using different portions of the multicast. 
     
     
       17. The LED driver circuit of  claim 14 , wherein the LED driver circuit is configured to receive the multicast from an LED control unit via the one-wire unidirectional interface. 
     
     
       18. The LED driver circuit of  claim 14 , wherein the LED driver circuit includes a plurality of LED drivers, the LED driver circuit further comprising a differential receiver circuit configured to:
 receive a differential signal that comprises the multicast; and 
 communicate the multicast to the plurality LED drivers via the interface. 
 
     
     
       19. The LED driver circuit of  claim 14 , wherein the multicast comprises rows of data that are received in a row-by-row fashion, wherein each of the rows includes a header, a cyclical redundancy check (CRC) code, and a plurality of the pixel intensity values. 
     
     
       20. The LED driver circuit of  claim 19 , wherein at least some of the rows of data correspond to rows of LEDs within a matrix of LEDs that are driven the LED driver circuit. 
     
     
       21. The LED driver circuit of  claim 19 , wherein at least some of the rows of data correspond to clusters of LEDs within a matrix of LEDs that are driven the LED driver circuit. 
     
     
       22. The LED driver circuit of  claim 21 , wherein the LED driver circuit includes a plurality of LED drivers configured to drive a plurality of clusters of LEDs, wherein each of the plurality of LED drivers corresponds to one of the plurality of clusters of LEDs. 
     
     
       23. The LED driver circuit of  claim 14 , wherein the multicast comprises a set of pixel intensity values that is used simultaneously the LED driver circuit and one or more additional LED driver circuits. 
     
     
       24. The LED driver circuit of  claim 14 , wherein the multicast data comprises different sets of pixel intensity values that are defined for a plurality of different LED drivers and wherein the LED driver circuit is configured to identify one or more of the sets of pixel intensity values within the multicast and drive the plurality of LEDs based on the one or more identified sets of pixel intensity values. 
     
     
       25. The LED driver circuit of  claim 14 , wherein
 the multicast comprises a first set of pixel intensity values that is used simultaneously by the LED driver circuit and one or more additional LED driver circuits, and 
 the multicast comprises second sets of pixel intensity values that are defined for a plurality of different LED drivers and wherein the LED driver circuit is configured to identify one or more of the second sets of pixel intensity values within the multicast and drive the plurality of LEDs based on the one or more identified sets of pixel intensity values. 
 
     
     
       26. The LED driver circuit of  claim 14 , further comprising a plurality of drivers configured to drive different plurality of LEDs, wherein each of the two or more drivers is configured to:
 receive the multicast; and 
 drive a respective plurality of LEDs based on the multicast. 
 
     
     
       27. The LED driver circuit of  claim 26 , wherein each of the plurality of drivers is configured to drive a respective plurality of LEDs based on the multicast in a manner that is unique relative to other drivers of the plurality of drivers. 
     
     
       28. The LED driver circuit of  claim 26 , wherein at least one of the plurality of drivers corresponds to exterior vehicle lighting and at least one of the plurality of drivers corresponds to interior vehicle lighting. 
     
     
       29. A control circuit configured to simultaneously control a plurality of different light emitting diode (LED) driver circuits, wherein the control circuit is configured to:
 generate a multicast of pixel intensity values based on data in memory or data received from a data source, wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises a plurality of luminance values to be used by the plurality of different LED driver circuits to drive different sets of LEDs; and 
 output the multicast of pixel intensity values simultaneously to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits on an interface that connects the control circuit to each of the plurality of different LED driver circuits, 
 
       wherein the plurality of different driver circuits is configured to drive different subsets of pixels within a matrix of LEDs that forms a vehicle headlamp, and wherein the multicast includes different pixel intensity values for the different subset of pixels within the matrix of LEDs. 
     
     
       30. The control circuit of  claim 29 , wherein the multicast of pixel intensity values comprises the plurality of luminance values and a plurality of chrominance values.